MARRIAGE OR CAREER? DOMESTIC IDEOLOGY in GEORGE GISSING's the ODD WOMEN by KUO-WEI HSU Presented to the Faculty of the Gradua
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MARRIAGE OR CAREER? DOMESTIC IDEOLOGY IN GEORGE GISSING’S THE ODD WOMEN by KUO -WEI HSU Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ART S IN ENGLIGH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON August 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, to Dr. Martin Danahay, my thesis advisor, goes my deepest gratitude for his conscientious directing and correction on my thesis. Without his insightful instruction, this thesis would be laden with flaws. Next, I am also indebted to Dr. Jacqueline Stodnick and Dr. Kevin Gustafson, whose valuable suggestions improve the reading of this thesis. Besides, I would like to thank my parents for their financial assistance so that I can pursue my studies without being troubled by monetary matters. In addition, I am very grateful to my sister who generously gives her warm care for me while I stay at her place to refresh myself from academic studies. Finally, I thank all my friends for their kind support and concern for me when I was in difficulties. Without their help, this thesis could not come into being. May 2, 2005 ii ABSTRACT MARRIAGE OR CAREER? DOMESTIC IDEOLOGY IN GEORGE GISSING’S THE ODD WOMEN Publication No . ______ Kuo-wei Hsu, M.A. The University of Texas at Arlington, 2005 Supervising Professor: Martin Danahay Although George Gissing is acclaimed for his progressive thoughts on liberating women from patriarchy by establishing financial independence, s ome critics challenge such praise for Gissing by arguing that he is still confined within patriarchal thinking because he still adheres to domestic ideology, which advocates that women should stay within the domestic sphere and be protected from co rruption of the outside world. The discussion of this thesis is divided into two main parts: first, despite their efforts to fight for freedom in marriage, women fail to escape from the control of patriarchy because through domestic ideology patriarchy still drives women back to the iii domestic sphere. Secondly, though feminists in the novel claim that women can attain to their ultimate independence by establishing financial independence, they are still confined within domestic ideology since their thinking is still in accordance with the norm of Victorian domestic ideology. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION……… ............................................................................. 1 1.1 Gissing’s background information .......................................................... 1 1.2 Criticism of The Odd Women ................................................................. 2 1.2.1 Critica l opinions that favor The Odd Women .......................... 2 1.2.2 Critical opinions that criticize The Odd Women ...................... 3 1.3 Thesis statement……............................................................................... 5 1.4 Outline of each chapter ............................................................................ 5 2. A GIRL TRAPPED IN MARRIAGE ............................................................ 7 2.1 Source of domestic ideology ................................................................... 7 2.1.1 The definition of The Odd Women .......................................... 7 2.1.2 Ruskin’s “Of Queen’s Garden” ................................................ 8 2.2 Ruskin’s theory into practice ................................................................... 10 2.2.1 Males as financial supporters .................................................... 10 2.2.2 Odd women without support .................................................... 11 2.3 Monica as shop assistant.......................................................................... 12 2.3.1 The working condition of shop assistants ................................. 12 v 2.3.2 Choosing an ideal husband ....................................................... 14 2.3.3 Widdowson as a good choice ................................................... 15 2.4 Failures of their marriage......................................................................... 16 2.4.1 A loveless marriage .................................................................. 16 2.4.2 Incompatible personalities ........................................................ 17 2.4.3 More freedom in marriage........................................................ 18 2.4.4 Ruskin’s bad influence ............................................................. 20 2.4.5 Widdowson’s insecurity ........................................................... 22 2.5 Monica’s strolling……………………………………………………… 24 2.5.1 Strolling without company ....................................................... 24 2.5.2 Strolling at night ....................................................................... 26 2.5.3 Strolling leads to moral corruption ........................................... 27 2.6 Corrupted shop assistants ........................................................................ 29 2.6.1 Chances of meeting men ........................................................... 29 2.6.2 Shop assistants as merchandise ................................................ 30 2.6.3 Examples of fallen shop girls ................................................... 31 2.7 Monica’s tragedy …………….. .............................................................. 34 3. MARRIAGES IN THE ODD WOM EN ....................................................... 36 3.1 Bad marriages……… .............................................................................. 36 3.2 The only good marriage ........................................................................... 38 3.3 Gissing supports domestic ideology ........................................................ 40 4. NEW WOMEN; OLD THINKING ............................................................... 41 vi 4.1 New women still within domestic ideology ............................................ 41 4.1.1 The fallacy of the new woman .................................................. 41 4.1.2 New women as hostesses .......................................................... 43 4.1.3 Plain, black dress ...................................................................... 44 4.1.4 Receiving calls .......................................................................... 44 4.1.5 Supervising servants ................................................................. 46 4.2 Old thinking……..................................................................................... 47 4.2.1 Support for virginity ................................................................. 47 4.2.2 Desire for marriage ................................................................... 48 4.3 Clerical work and domestic ideology ...................................................... 50 4.3.1 Is clerical work a promising alternative? .................................. 50 4.3.2 Widdowson’s resentment of clerkship ...................................... 51 4.3.3 Poor salary …………………………………………………… 52 4.3.4 Typing and piano ...................................................................... 54 4.3.5 Home -like office ....................................................................... 55 5. CONCLUSION……………….. .................................................................... 57 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 59 BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ......................................................................... 62 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Gissing’s background information After many years’ oblivion, George Gissing’s The Odd Women , owing to its depiction of women’s emancipation from their tradit ional bondage in a patriarchal world, received critics’ attention with the rise of feminist criticism in the 1970s. George Gissing displayed great sympathy for oppressed people, especially women, because they were less privileged in Victorian society. In one of his letters, Gissing clearly indicated his goal in his life and career —“to bring home to people the ghastly condition (material, mental, and moral) of our poor classes, to show the hideous injustice of our whole system of society, to give light upon the plan of altering it” (Letters of George Gissing, 83). Undoubtedly, Gissing was much displeased with the unfair condition of those oppressed classes, which naturally included women, in Victorian England and aspired to change it by means of his efforts . To prove his determination to save women from their wretched condition, Gissing tried to rescue a prostitute from the street and a working girl from a factory by marrying them. More than that, Gissing even wrote this novel, The Odd Women , to inform contemporary Englishmen of the fact that women can gain independence by possessing such a clerical career as typists. In the last chapter of the novel, through the voice of the leading heroine, Rhoda, a radical 1 feminist, or in late Victorian terminology, a N ew Woman, who asserts women’s independence, Gissing seemed to portray a bright future for women. When seeing the abandoned little girl of Monica, the other heroine of the novel, Rhoda wishes to “Make a brave woman of her” (Gissing 332). 1 Based on the suggestion of the title of the final